'How did a frock start?'

A friend of mine exclaimed, 'Don't sisters of Daughters of the Heart of Mary wear a frock? I can't believe it.'

This question made me consider about what a frock mean. I sometimes see lay people more 'enthusiastic' than priests and the religious. Some people take it granted that nuns have to wear a frock.

In fact, the religious including preachers, missionaries, priests and bishops had worn street clothes for centuries since the birth of the Church. They didn't put on any special frock at the occasion of giving sermons and the sacrament of the Eucharist. It is said that the religious who lived in a seclusion and mortification wore a frock. At the Council of Trent in 1500 it was recommended that the religious should wear appropriate clothes but styles and colors of a frock were not designated.

The sisters of DHM don't wear a frock because their mission is to work among people in the world. Wearing a frock makes them unable to reach people and serve them in the world.

Sisters of DHM are following the footsteps of Mother Mary to witness Christ in the world. They live a life contrary to the value of modern consumerism. Their way of life is characterized as humility, obedience and poverty, which vividly reflects the life of Mary. It is admirable that sisters are earnestly trying to response the call of Christ to the fullest.

H.T. Doan (SJ)